Difference Outlooks of the Characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

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All throughout William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, every single member of the dramatis personae seem to stand for or have a certain outlook on something. These characteristics however when explored, are only skin deep. These characters truly act the opposite on the inside. The real thoughts and feelings are hidden under the charade. It is ironic that while these people are in a play, they truly are acting. They fool everyone into believing what they want them to believe, with unknown (sometimes) dishonest intentions. The Aunt Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, do what a large percentage of females do: they hide the complete obvious pain in their lives, they pretend that is isn’t there when in fact the reality is it hurts them on a daily basis. Then there is Claudius, the new king of Denmark, and the executioner of his brother in cold blood. On the surface he appears to be a loving king, ready to fill the shoes of Hamlets beloved father. The real Claudius is nothing like that. He is an evil man who will let nothing stand in the way of what he desires. Finally, there is the star of the play, Prince Hamlet himself. Hamlet is a very intelligent man, but he doesn’t show how smart he is to everyone. Instead he shows everybody his lunacy, whether or not it is real or a lie. Lies and deceit may be a central theme in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but they are also the cornerstone of the play.

The female protagonists are perhaps the two characters that hide behind their own deceit the most. Gertrude absolutely refuses to accept what her upset son Hamlet is trying to show her: the fact that her now deceased husband’s brother Claudius murdered her husband to inherit the throne. She can not, even in the face of her death, accept that it has been Claudius that...

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...e he is never seen plotting out his revenge in grand detail does not mean it did not happen. He knew exactly what he was doing. His deceit fooled everyone.

Everyone in Hamlet deceives somebody. Mostly because they want to shield themselves from the pain of getting hurt, and because they want something. Ophelia and Gertrude are looking for their dream world, ones in which they can live happily with their new husbands without having to suffer the pain of losing the man they loved, and one where they can actually get the man they love to love them back, respectively. Claudius wants to live the rest of his life as the king of Denmark, so he must not let anyone catch hint of his evil soul. Finally, Hamlet must let everyone believe that he has gone mad, in order for his revenge plan to play out successfully. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, deceit is the cornerstone.

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